The Blues have travelled to Merseyside for the second time in less than two weeks, this time to take on Liverpool in the League Cup fourth round on Wednesday evening.

Alonso has made four changes from the weekend’s Premier League fixture in what is a strong line-up for this cup tie, a further sign of how seriously Chelsea are taking this competition, going into a tough away trip.

‘The cups are important for us this year and for sure we face today a good challenge,’ said our manager. 'We are coming to Anfield and we want to be in the next round.

‘From the beginning we have taken it serious and we have a tough game and we want to have a good feeling that we are competing and we get where we want to be.’

The visit to Anfield also provides a chance to bounce back quickly from the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last time out, even if the knockout format of the Carabao Cup presents a very different challenge this time around.

‘It's another competition,’ Alonso added. ‘We know that we are playing in another format, knowing what it takes. It's make or break. So we want to make it happen today, knowing that we need to have a great performance.

‘In one game, there can be different little games that you need to deal with, with the energy that is created. But these players, they have played a few times already here. They know what it takes and hopefully we show it today.’